BOYS RUN DOWN BY
FIRE AUTOMOBILE.
CHARLES COLE, 12 YEARS OLD,
MAY DIE OF INJURIES.
Two Kansas City, Kas., Lads, Coast-
ing, Collided With Machine
While Latter Is on
Test Run.
EARL SHEIREL.
Charles Cole and Earl Sheirel, aged 12 and 13 years, were run down yesterday by a combination hose and chemical fire automobile at Armstrong avenue and Seventeenth street in Kansas City, Kas., and received injuries which may result fatally in the case of the little Cole boy. The boys were seated on a small coasting wagon, riding north on Seventeenth street, which has a gradual slope for several blocks. The fire automobile, which has recently been undergoing tests in Kansas City, Kas., with the prospect of being purchased by the city, was going the same direction, being driven by S. O. Harpster. Stories of the collision which occurred between Ann and Armstrong avenues, differ. The Cole boy was seated on the rear of the little wagon and the heavy fire wagon passed entirely over his body, rolling along the asphalt pavement. The Sheirel boy was thrown to one side and a wheel of the wagon crushed a thumb on the right hand.
Following the accident the occupants of the motor wagon picked up the unconscious boy and removed him to the home of his father, J. B. Cole, 1604 Minnesota avenue. The Sheirel boy, who lives at 1606 Minnesota avenue, refused to ride in the wagon, and walked to his home, where he was treated by Dr. W. H. McLeod.
S. O. Harpster, a representative of the Anderson Coupling and Fire Supply Company, A. Zertman, of the Zertman-Tiller Motor Car Company, and a Mr. Lamb, of Bowling Green, Ohio, the occupants of the car stated that they were in no way to blame for the accident.
CHARLIE COLE.
"We were several blocks behind the boys when we first saw them," said Mr. Harpster. "I had intended to turn east on Armstrong avenue and had the car going about five miles an hour and under perfect control. We were ringing the bell constantly. When we neared the boys I started to pass them on the right side. They turned to the right and then when I turned to the left they appeared to become confused and as we started to pass they ran into us. I stopped within a car length of where we struck the boys."
This version of the accident differs materially from that told by eye witnesses to the accident. Mrs. R. Carpenter of 1619 Armstrong avenue said yesterday that the automobile was traveling at a high rate of speed.
"I tried to warn the boys, but the rattle of their wagon drowned my voice," she said. "It seemed to me that the automobile just ran right into them. The car ran at least 100 feet beyond the place where the boys were struck before it was stopped. The little coasting wagon was broken into small pieces."
A number of laborers who were working near the scene of the accident examined the tracks of the car and the little wagon, and they stated yesterday that the coasting wagon was within eight feet of the left-hand curbing when it was struck.
Dr. W. R. Palmer, who attended the injured boy, stated last night that his condition was serious. He sustained a broken collar bone, a possible concussion of the brain and severe cuts and bruises over his head and body. One particularly painful bruise is over the spine. J. B. Cole, father of the injured boy, is bailiff of the Wyandotte county court.
